Fur treating machine



Feb. 4, 1936. F. w. HORSTMANN 2,029,775

FUR TREATING MACHINE Filed June 21, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l a; 41 5a 4% 5 I 47 2 a ff 't ww 1-1 61 75 ga W @WM .4 all 5E] 57 ATTORN EY Feb. 4, 1936. w HQR TMANN 2,029,775

FUR TREATING MACHINE Filed June 21, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 mun INN-Uni ATTORNEY I Feb. 4, 1936. F, w O A 2,029,775

FUR TREATING MACHINE -Filed June 21, 1954 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 VIII/M ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES ATET OFFIQE 17 Claims.

This invention relates to fur machines and more particularly to a machine for stretching and buffing pelts.

Stretching machines are now employed in the prior art to increase the size of the pelts. It is also the practice to moisten the leather of the pelt and then stretch the same on boards, tacking the edges down with nails. It is also the practice in softening the leather of a pelt to place the same against a bufiing drum by the hands. It is obvious with such treatment that uniform results are difficult to obtain and that it requires considerable skill to obtain a satisfactory product.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism with which the stretching and buffing operations may be performed in such a manner as to obtain an improved product.

' It is a further object of this invention to provide a mechanism whereby the stretching or buffing may be done simultaneously or if desired the stretching operation alone may be performed.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide several instrumentalities in a unit structure which will perform the operations of stretching and buffing in a more uniform manner than done heretofore with the result that a better product is obtained.

Other objects of the invention will become ap- 3o parent from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the machine with parts broken away to illustrate more clearly the bufling drum;

Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on line IIIIII of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the operating parts and illustrating the position of a fur being treated by the mechanism.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the machine comprises a pair of frame work supporting members 5 and 6 held securely together in spaced apart relation by cross bars l and 8. Mounted on the members I is an electric motor 9, the shaft IEI of which carries a drive pulley l I over which is threaded a belt l2 which is also threaded over a pulley l3'mounted on a shaft it. The shaft is '50 is mounted in bearings it carried by the supporting members 5 and t at their upper ends. Splined to this shaft is a stretching roller 16 of conventional form having the usual helically arranged stretching fins 5'? extending from the center to the opposite ends of the roller E6 in diverging relation as can be readily seen from Figure 1.

Cooperating with the stretching roller is an idler drum I8 covered with felt and mounted on the ends of a pair of arms l8 pivoted at 2E] to 5 the cross members i. The idler drum is pivotally mounted on the ends of the arms IS by means of a bolt 2| extending through the arms 22 depending from the ends of the drum, said arms having forked members 23 carried at the lower 10 ends which support adjusting screws 24 whereby some slight adjustment of the position occupied by the drum with respect to the stretching roller may be obtained. V

Mechanism for moving the drum 18 toward 1'5 and from the stretching roller is provided, said mechanism comprising a foot treadle 25 pivoted on the rod 26 mounted in the cross members I and having an extension arm 21' connected by a link 23 to the ends of a rocking lever 29 mounted on a shaft 36 supported at its ends in the frame members 5 and 6. One end of the lever 29 extends upwardly in the form of a finger 3! which engages a roller 32 mounted on a shaft 33 supported at its ends in the arms I9. Q5

From the foregoing description it is apparent from Figure 2 that when one depresses the foot treadle 25, through arm 21 and link connection 28, the rocking lever 29 will be operated to thrust H the finger 3! against the roller 32 thus moving 36 drum 8 to position adjacent the stretching roller it. I

The inward movement of the drum [8 toward the stretching roller may be governed through V the link connections 34 carried by the arms I9, 35 said links having slots 35 and carrying set screws 35 at the ends thereof. The rod 3%] extends through the slots 35 in the links, the ends of the set screws 36 engaging the rod 3i! when the drum I8 is shifted inwardly toward the stretching roller it. It is thus apparent that the adjustment position given to the set screws 36 determines the innermost position of the drum [8 so that no matter how hard one depresses upon the foot treadle no further forward movement 45 of the drum can be obtained.

Springs 31 having one end secured to the arms 55 and the other ends attached to the rod 26 return the drum H! to inoperative position upon releasing pressure upon the foot treadle 25.

The foregoing mechanism is old and well known 0 in the art. In the use thereof the operator drapes the end of a pelt (see Fig. 4) over the idler drum l8 with the fur surface of the pelt against the felt surface of the drum. He then depresses 55 the foot treadle which brings the end of the pelt between the rapidly rotating stretcher roller l6 and the idler drum 18. Through the action of the oppositely diverging stretching fins I! the pelt is stretched outwardly toward the marginal edges of the pelt thus enlarging the same.

Inasmuch as it may be desirable while performing the stretching operation to also buff or clean the leather side of the pelt in order to improve .thetexture thereof or to soften the same andadditionally if desired to break down the fibres so as to make the pelt more flexible, the present invention provides means for accomplishing this purpose. To this end there is provided a bufiing, cleaning, smoothing or fibre breaking roller 4 which may be provided on its surface with any material or structure, such as sand-paper, carding cloth, wire brush, or the like, to buff the leather surface of the pelt. This roller 46 is splined to a shaft 4! mounted in bearings 42 carried in the ends of arms 43 pivotally mounted at 44 in the ends of bell crank levers 45 rotatable around and carried by the shaft l4. Anadjustment is provided for the buffing roller 49 in the form of two oppositely disposed set screws 46 carried by the ends of the belt crank levers 45 and bearing against the sides of the arms 43. Screw studs 41 are fastened in the ends of the belt crank levers 45 and pass through slots 48 in the arms 45.

I The bell crank levers 45 are provided with arms 49 having a series of openings 50 in which may be adjusted the ends of links 5!, the other ends of said links being pivotally secured at 52 to the arms 22 carrying the idler drum l8. Arms 53 carrying rods 54 extend outwardly from the bell crank levers 45 and to the ends of these arms are secured springs 55 the other ends of the springs being connected by links 56 to the frame members 5 and 6. The ends of the rods 54 carry a series of openings 51 for obtaining degrees of tension on the springs 55 to assist in returning the buffing roller 40 and idler drum to inoperative position.

It is obvious that through the link connection 5| from the arms 22 to the bell crank levers 45 that simultaneously with the movement of the idler drum l8 to operative position for stretching a pelt the bufling roller is brought into position adjacent the leather surface of the pelt to perform its operation of smoothing such surface or break the fibres therein as desired. In order that this may be eifectively accomplished the bufling roller 40 is rapidly rotated by means of the driving belts 53 threaded over pulleys 59 and 60 carried by the shafts 4| and I4, respectively. The pulley 59 is of smaller diameter than the pulley 66 whereby the bufiing roller may be rotated at a higher rate of speed than the stretching roller. One of the advantages of the construction described above is that the buffing operation takes place while the skin or pelt is in a stretched condition thus making it possible to smoothly and uniformly buff the pelt and thereby obtain a better conditioned pelt than is obtainable with the hand bufiing operation now practised.

In Figure 4 is shown the position of the pelt when the combined operations of buffing and stretching are desired. If one merely wishes to stretch without buffing all that is necessary to do is to hold the end of the pelt downwardly instead of upwardly as shown. Obviously when this is done the pelt is not brought into contact with the bufiing roller. By regulating the height to which the end of the pelt is raised, the amount of surface buffed at one time can be regulated to any required degree.

The mechanism is provided with guards to prevent the hands of the operator from being drawn into the operating rollers and drums through carelessness. To this end a guard plate 6| is mounted across the end of a table 62 pivoted on standards or brackets 63 which also support a trough or receptacle 64 for holding a supply of pelts.

An additional guard plate 65 is provided. This guard plate is adjustably supported on a pair of brackets 66 secured to the upper ends of the arms 43, the adjustability being provided by means of slots 61 and set screws 68 as shown in Figure 1. By properly adjusting the heighth of the edge of the plate above the bight between the idler drum 1 8 and the bufiing roller 40 one can also control the degree of bufiing to which the leather of the pelt is subjected. Also one can so adjust this plate that it is not possible to obtain any bufiing action whatsoever. By careful adjustment of this guard plate it is also possible to obtain a fibre-breaking action when one draws upwardly with sufficient force to bring the leather .side of the pelt firmly against the edge of the guard plate. It is to be understood that the guard plate 65 is not essential in the performance of the bufiing action.

Although I have illustrated the buffing roller as being moved into and out of operative position, it may be desirable to have this roller held in a fixed position. This may be readily accomplished by means of the brackets 69 secured to the frame members 5 and 6, said brackets having arms 10 having openings H through which bolts may be passed to engage in the openings 50 of the arms 49 of the bell crank levers 45, and disconnecting the link connection with said bell crank levers.

Additional supporting brackets 12 are provided on each side of the machine to assist in supporting the shaft I4 and to provide rigidity. These brackets are bolted at 13 to the side members 5 and 6 and have bearings 14 at the upper ends thereof in which the ends of the shaft I 4 fit. An apro'n i5 positioned beneath the drum is provided to receive the pelts after passing through the operating mechanism to'divert the same away from the machine into a receptacle not shown.

By the term buffing as used herein it is intended to mean any operation upon the leather surface of the pelt which improves the texture thereof, such, for example, as cleaning therefrom any objectionable material or lumps, softening the leather to give it a chamois texture, reducing the thickness of the leather and to make it of uniform thickness and flexibility, and generally to condition the leather of the pelt to make the same more useful and salable from an appearance and utility viewpoint.

Modifications of the foregoing invention will i roller, a drum for pressing a fur pelt in contact with said stretching roller, means for rotating said roller, and means for buffing the hide side of the fur pelt.

3. In a fur treating machine, a stretching roller, a drum for pressing a fur pelt in contact with said stretching roller, means for rotating said roller, and means for buffing the hide side of the fur pelt, said last mentioned means being so positioned with respect to said stretching roller and said drum as to enable the operator to either simultaneously perform the stretching and bufling operation or to perform the stretching operation alone.

4. In a fur treating machine, a stretching roller, a drum for pressing a fur pelt in contact with said stretching roller, means for rotating said roller, means for bufiing the hide side of the fur pelt, and guard means positioned in front of said bufiing means.

5. In a fur treating machine, a stretching roller and a bufiing roller, and a pressing drum cooperating with both said stretching roller and buffing roller.

6. In a fur machine, a stretching roller and a bufiing roller, means for rotating said rollers, a pressing drum adapted to be moved into and out of position adjacent said rollers, and means for moving said pressing drum toward and from said rollers.

'7. In a fur machine, a stretching roller and a buifing roller, means for rotating said rollers, a pressing drum cooperating with said rollers, means to move said drum toward and away from said rollers, and guard means for said buffing and stretching rollers.

8. In a fur machine, a stretching roller and a bufling roller, means for rotating said rollers, a pressing drum, means for moving said drum toward and from said rollers, and means connected to said last mentioned means and connected to said buffing roller to also move said buffing roller into operative position.

9. In a fur machine, a stretching roller and a bufiing roller, a pressing drum, and means for relatively moving said rollers and drum toward and from one another.

10. In a fur machine, a stretching roller and a buffing roller, a pressing drum movable toward and from said rollers, and guard means in front of said bufling roller, said guard means being adjustable to regulate the degree of contact of a pelt when operated on by said bufiing drum.

11. In a fur machine, a stretching roller, a buffing roller adjacent to said stretching roller and having its longitudinal axis in parallelism to the longitudinal axis of said stretching roller, a pressing drum positioned adjacent but out of operative relation to said rollers, said pressing drum also having its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stretching roller, means for rockably supporting said pressing drum, and means for rocking said pressing drum into and out of position adjacent said rollers.

12. In a fur machine, a frame-work, a stretching roller rotatably supported in the upper portion of said frame-work, a bufiing roller mounted on said frame-work above and forwardly of said stretching roller, a pressing drum rotatably supported on arms pivotally mounted in said framework, and means for rocking said pressing drum to a position adjacent said stretching and bufiing rollers.

13. In a fur machine, a frame-work, a stretching roller rotatably supported in the upper portion of said frame-work, a roller having an abrasive surface mounted on said frame-work in parallelism to said stretching roller, a pressing drum, means for supporting said pressing drum, and means for relatively moving said drum and said second-mentioned roller.

14. In a fur machine, a frame-work, a stretching roller rotatably supported in the upper portion of said frame-work, a bufiing roller, a pair of arms for supporting said bufling roller for movement about the axis of said stretching roller, a pressing drum, means for rockably supporting said drum, and means connected to said last mentioned means for operating the same to move the drum toward and from said rollers, and means connecting said supporting means for said drum and said arms so that upon movement of said pressing drum toward said stretching roller said bufling roller is also rocked about the axis of said roller to bring the same into position to cooperate with said drum when the same is in position adjacent said stretching roller.

15. A fur machine comprising a frame-work, a stretching roller rotatably mounted in said frame-work, means for rotating said roller, a bufiing roller rotatably supported and mounted in such manner that it may be rocked about the axis of said stretching roller, means for rotating said bufling roller, a pressing drum, means for rotatably mounting said pressing drum, and means for moving said pressing drum toward and from said stretching roller and for simultaneously rocking said buffing roller into operative position.

16. A fur machine comprising a supporting frame-work, a stretching mechanism mounted in said frame-work and comprising a stretching roller and a cooperating pressing drum adapted to be brought into and out of position with respect to said stretching roller, and a bufiing roller positioned adjacent said stretching roller and cooperating with said pressing drum when in operative position with respect to said stretching roller.

1'7. A fur machine comprising a stretching roller, means for rotating said stretching roller, a bufiing roller in parallelism to said stretching roller, means for rotating said buffing roller at a higher rate of speed than said stretching roller, and a pressing drum movable relatively to said buffing and stretching roller to bring a fur pelt draped thereover into position adjacent said rollers to be operated thereon to buff the hide of said pelt and to simultaneously stretch the same.

FREDERICK W. HORSTMANN. 

